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Bishop may return to Kiev to finalise deal

Julian Drape, AAP Europe Correspondent

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is expected to be at Eindhoven Airport in the Netherlands to meet the final flights carrying the bodies of the MH17 victims transported from the crash site in eastern Ukraine.

The minister could then return to Kiev, where Canberra hopes the Ukrainian parliament will ratify a deal that would allow Australia to lead an armed security mission at the site.

A Dutch Hercules C-130 and an Australian C-17 transporter were scheduled to leave Kharkiv Airport about noon on Saturday (1900 AEST). Each plane is carrying 19 coffins.

The final 38 caskets will arrive at Eindhoven about 4pm (2400 AEST), where Ms Bishop will observe the reception ceremony that has been repeated each day since the first flights touched down on Wednesday.

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The 38 coffins will take the total number flown to the Netherlands to 227.

From Eindhoven, the coffins will be placed in hearses and driven to Hilversum military barracks, near Amsterdam, where the grim forensic identification task is already under way.

"I want to thank Ms Bishop for her tireless work in support of Operation Bring Them Home," Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters in Canberra.

He suggested it was unlikely the foreign minister would jet off to New York, where it's believed Australia is working on a back-up UN resolution authorising an armed mission.

"I don't think you should assume she will go to New York," Mr Abbott said on Saturday.

"One of our very high priorities is to secure the full agreement of the Ukrainian system - not just the government but of the parliament.

"So, I don't think you should assume that Minister Bishop will go from the Netherlands to New York.

"You may well find that she goes back to Kiev in the next day so."

The foreign minister has signed an in-principle deal with her Ukrainian counterpart, Pavlo Klimkin, that would allow Australia to lead an armed security mission.

But it still needs to be ratified by the parliament.

Getting the arrangement finalised has been complicated by the collapse of the ruling coalition and the resignation of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

But an extraordinary session is now scheduled for Thursday and Ukraine's Acting Prime Minister, Volodymyr Groysman, says fast-tracking ratification is a priority.

The Netherlands is sending 40 unarmed military police to the site. The Dutch argue they do not need a special deal at this stage because their police will not have weapons.

But Australia wants to send in almost 200 federal police officers - some of whom could be armed - as well as a small defence force contingent.